“MAMA,” my 5-year old beamed, “I HAD SUCH A GOOD DREAM!”
Her eyes sparkled. She looked up, the glint of her eyes twinkling, polishing the possibility of her dream come true.
“What was it, sweetheart?” I asked— my 5-year old was not one to have dreams often.
“MAMA! You were in a BEAUTIFUL hospital… because of pain in your arm. There were lots of pretty fish in a pond, and I took you there.”
I frowned. “And how is that a good dream, sweetheart?”
“Oh! Because you were SO HAPPY! God healed you! You swung and spun me around in the playground. IT WAS MY BEST DREAM EVER, MAMA.”
I paused, eyes blinking back tears.
A month ago, I’d tapered off strong anti-epileptic nerve medication for pain control from chronic nerve pain post-spine surgery a year ago. But just days after I’d weaned off meds, the pain returned with a vengeance.
For hours past midnight, I laid in bed, pain coursing through my arms and chest. I lost hope. What was the point? We’d tried everything- from meds to physio to psychological treatment. I felt like giving up—things could only worsen.
My kids, who’d been praying for my healing night after night, said in all earnestness, “Try going one more day without pain meds, Mama.”
“Just take it a day at a time,” Cliff would say.
Then, this dream.
“MAMA, I think God is telling you He already healed you,” said my 5-year old. “You don’t need to go back to the medicine.”
The next day, I awoke, bewildered by a strange lightness. Since that day, the pain, once stubborn no matter what I did, quietened to become a lingering trace.
“Your dream came true, sweetheart,” I hugged my 5-year old, “Thank you for sharing your dream with me.”
“I know, Mama,” she replied, in a what-else-were-you-expecting kind of way.
I don’t understand His ways nor His time, but I do know— that for all the pains and hurts we endure, sometimes, all we need is just to say, “Give me hope for one more day, Lord,” and await His miracle, even if we don’t believe it then, even if we’ve lost hope.
To those of you still awaiting yr miracle, standing with you. 💛🙏🏾